Drinking-fountain.



P. MUELLER & A. G. SGHUBRM'ANN.

, DRINKING FOUNTAIN APPLIOATION FILED D1308, 1911. 1,054,306.

Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

36 I .1/ V w Ania/7 6. Jc/me/"mann Gamma,

PHILIP MUELLER AND x-iIN'lilIi' (I.

TO H. MUELLRE'IR MFG. '30., 0 IlLt iCi-YFU Et,

SCJ'cIUERitLf-UIN, OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS I INOIS, A CORPORATION 01? ILLINOIS.

Application filed Deecmber To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, luime Mikntmna and AN'roN (l. Scutninwnzn, citizens of the United States, residing at lleeal'ur, in the county of Maven and t-itato of Illinois, have invented new and useful lmproven'ieiits in Drinkingd ountains, of which the lollowing is a specil'ieation.

lhis invention relates to drinking iolnn tains, and has for its primary object to provide athoroughly sanitary nozzle to he used with drinking 'l'ountains designed for instal lation in puhlic. places, and of that type wherein drinking oups are not employed, the drinker placing' his mouth direetly over the upwardly Honing,- or huohling stream of water when he desires to assuage his thirst. The nozzle is so constructed that. a person drinking there'l'rom cannot, contaminate the same by plaeing his lips or any part oi his face in conta t therewith without having his face and nose tilled with water. To attain this end, the nozzle of the present in- \ention has an outlet end of relative large diameter, the upper sur'laee of which is preferably slightly eonieal in shape. through the apex ol which is an opening tor the main drinking stream. ladiating from said opening are narrinvslots extending toward the periphery ol' the nozzle through which flow upwardly thin but liroad protecting stri-ian'is direeted edtrewise t ward the main or drinking stream with whieh they eommingle. said proteeting streams llowiugr into the lace ol the user should he attempt to touch the nozzle with his lips. The main streams uniting, produce a.

and proteeting bubbling ell'ect and supply at. the top ol the stream of water in sullieient; quantity to.

satisfy the most thir, ty.

Another object of the invention is to lli'tk duce a nozzle from which tlows upwardly a gentle. liulihling stream to which the mouth is directly applied and thus avoid the use of a cupped or howl shaped reeepti'mle iron] which to drink and in which tillh aeeumulates, or is maliciously thrown. This nozzle is made self-cleaning in tapering outwardly and downwardly like a flattened none. the outlet end or top of the nozzle so that it' any disease germs or bacteria of any eommnnr eahle diseases should fall thereon, the large 1 llow ot water issuing from the nozzle and falhng back -thereon. would quickly wash Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 25,1913.

93. 1911. Serial No. 66%.635).

them from the nozzle into the taele provided for the overtlow.

'aste recepinvention eonsists ot the novel construction, eomhimition and arrangement of parts hereinat'ter descrilaal in detail, and illustrated in the aeconipanying drawing, in which drinking fountain nozzle. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. dis a vertical ventral section on the line 3----;-3, Fig. 2. Fig. -'l is a. horizontal sectional view on the line =t---l, Fig.

lo the drawings, wherein like reference characters aroused to designate the same parts in all the figures. A iudieates a drinking nozzle, the hody 10 of which is made, pre'l'erahly, in the shape of a cup, open at the top and provided with an extension or neek 11 on its lower end. The mouth of the eup or body 10 is interiorly serew threaded for the attachment of a hollow cap 12, preferahly circular in shape and of relatively large diameter, the exposed top surface 13 of which inclines downwardly and outwardly from a central orifice l t for the main drinking;- stream. Through the dome or fare. of theeap 12, a plurality of slots 15 extend from the orifice l t in a 'adial direction nearly or quite to the periphery of the rap. in the instanre shown these slots open into the oritiee ll. 'lhrough the slots' flow thin. broad streams ot water in substantially the same direetion as the flow of the drinking st ream, when the fountain is in use, that i inlermine'le with the main drinking stream land produce a gentle, upwardly bubbling \llow of water, 'l'roin which a person can drink with great ease and comfort. A cyiiudrieal rim ll; projects dowim'm'dly from the hottom at the rap and is exteriorly screw 1 threadial to engage the con'iplenientary serew thread in the mouth of the body 10.

lhrou h the neck .11 is a central bore 17 eommuuieating with the bottom ol the body l0. and divided by a horizontal diaphragm is having a eeutral opening 19. Below the diaphragm IS the bore 17 is screw threaded for attaching the nozzle A to l the upper end otsaid bore counter-bored 'l'rom within the ho ly, or otherwise enlarged downwardly at 20, for a suitable distance iand interiorly sctew threaded for the reeeption of a realm ableannular valve seat '21 l i l t l l l l ii'ith these and other objects in View the Figure l is an elevation of the improved having an exterior peripheral screw thread, as represented in Fig. 3.

lVithin the bore 1.7 between the perforated diaphragm 18 and the valve seat 21 is placed a regulating valve 22 of such diameter and lengtl as to tit snugly within said bore and move freely therein for a limited distance in an axial direction. The regulating valve 22 is cylindrical from its lower end nearly to its upper end where it is reduced in diameter for a short distance, making a shoulder 23 and then tapers inwardly to form a frusto-conical end 21 which, when the valve is raised, contacts with a similarly shaped surtaee 25 on the valve seat 21. The bottom of the valve is recessed at 26 to form a flange 27 that bars on the diaphragm 18 when no water is flowing through the noz- .:le. .3. number of parallel longitudinal groove 28 are cut in the outer periphery of the valve body from its bottom to the shouldcr 23 Said grooves extending through the bottom flange- 27, and forming a series of notches 29 therein. The frusto-eonical upper end is also grooved at 30 in line with and forming continuations of the grooves 28, but are narrower and shallower than the latter grooves, the purpose of the grooves being described hereinafter.

To prevent a too rapid. flow of water through the nozzle, a ballie plate 31 is placed across the hollow body 10. This plate is in the form of a disk preferably seated on and closing the bottom of the hollow cap 12 and fastened thereto by screws 32 passing through holes near the periphery of the batlle plate and into lugs 34 projecting from the sides of the rim -16 of the cap, of by other suitable means. A groove or channel 35, concentric with the axis of the battle plate, is made in the underside of said plate from which channel a number of small outwardly diverging perforations 36 are bored through the plate so as to project the water flowing tberethrough against the sidewall of the cap or its rim 1(3. The perforations 36 are positioned not immediately below the slots 15, but somewhere between two of said slots and thus avoid all chance of water from the perforations sporting up through the slots.

In the center of the battle plate 3], below the outlet 14, a hole is bored and screw threaded to receive an adjusting or regulating screw 2-57, provided on its lower end below the battle plate,-with a disk or collar I38 and having its upper end notched so that a screw driver inserted in the outlet, 14 may turn the screw, Projecting downwardly from the disk or collar 3.; is a pin 39 sun rounded by a compression spring 40, one end of which bears against said collar 38, the

other end being seated in a recess 41 in the top of the regulating valve 22.

Tn many forms of drinking Fountain nozzles, boys and other mischievous persons often place a finger over the outlet and deflect the drinking stream out of its proper course and over their companions. To pre-' vent this a depression 42 is made in the edge of the cap 12 at the outer end of each slot .15, intersecting the same and providing a lateral exit for the water from said slots should the entire top of the nozzle be covered by the hand or other means; a ditficult operation under any circumstances, because ing nozzle passes through the notches'29 in.

the flange 27 of said valve, thence up along the. grooves 28 and 30 to and 'through the valve seat 21 into the body 10 of the nozzle. llere the force of the water is retarded by the battle plate 31., but passing through the divergent perforations 36 in said plate the water strikes against the sides of the cap rim 16, tilting said cap and escaping through the outlet 14- and slots 1.5. Under ordinary low pressure, the valve 22 is raised only a short distance above the diaphgram 18, not sufficient. to cause the valve to contact with its seat 21, hence there is no in'ipediment to the flowof such water as passes through the grooves 28 around the valve. Should, however, the pressure be greatly increased, the

force of the spring 10 would be overcon'ie' 'and the valve closed against its seat, preventing any water from passing to the nozzle except through the narrow and shallow grooves 30 in the 'l rusto-conical top of the valve, but this amount under the greater pressure is sullicient to keep the drinking stream at its normal height. With a water pressure int'ermtaliate the extremes the alve, under the action of the spring 1-0, will be. l tll't'tttl from its seat a distance proportional to the alter pressure, thereby regulating the volume of water passing through the nozzle outlets to the pressure.

From the above-it will be apparent that under high pressure conditions the area of the water passage around the valve is de creased, while under low pressure conditions this area is in reased. so that practically the vsame amount of water will flow from the nozzle under all conditions, the position of the valve with relation to its seat being automatically regulated by two pposing 'r'orces, that ol'v the spring and the pressure of the water. The tension ot' the spring is adjusted by the screw 37 to regulate the movement of the valve, and is determined, by the presstn-e ing the s:

of the water under normal and extreme eon tlitions. The spring is tensioned to regu-- 12 to the quantity of "water n vessart to .t'orzn a suitable drinking Sl.1tlll.l. under normal Conditions, and a: the pressure inereasea or decreases, either gradually or quickly, the valve will respond to the vl'tangt': of presaure and reduce or invreaae the llow ot water passing the valve.

The cap 12 may he made of metal, puree lain, glass or other suitable material, pr tie 'ahly smooth and polished so that no int-- pediment', however slight. shall appear on the surl'ace to prevent thorough washing ot the same by the falling water of the drink ing stream.

A nozzle t'or drinking fountains, von

structed as tleseriht'al is hoth simple and p -aetioal and tht'iroughlv sanitary. 'lhe device is shown in its preferred form, hut: it is to he untilerst'ood that various vhangts and modifications may he made therein without departing from the spirit, at the invention, as set. forth in the t'tppendt'd rlaints.

llaving iully desvrilied our invention, we claim:

1. A nozzle 'l'or drinking fountains nontprising a. hollow body having an tXPHrlPtl. relatively broad closure rovering its outlet end through \i'hivh is jt'ortned a ventral orilice for emissi n ol a drinking stream. and a plurality ot radiating water ilassages also formed thrt'iugh said vlosurv and --=urrounding said eentr: l orilit'e for the emission of a nozzle protevting water vurtaintihoth said central oriliee and said radiating water pas sagea arranged to disvharge water in sulr stantiall v the same dirvetion.

A nozzle l'or drinking fountains voinprising a hollow body having an expo-rd. relatively hroad t'losure vovering its outlet end tltrt'utgh whivh is l'orturd a ventral oti line for emission of a drinking r-ll' tllll. and a plurality of narrow slota vontnuutlvallug with and autiating l'rotn said ventral oriti e. hoth said vent fal orilire and said slot; arranged to disvharge water in suhstantlall v the saute direction.

3. A nozzle for drinking l'ountains tttiti" prising a hollow liodv having an exposed relal ivvly lu'vad. snu'ioth-l aved vlosurv ro\'vr-- ing its outlet end through \\'ltlt'lt i: ot-med a central orilive lor etnission ol a drinking stream, and a plurality of radiating water passages also opening through the lave ol' said closure surrounding said orilive and ll'lltflfittlltlg the saute 'l'or emission of a nozzle-protwrting water eurtain.

l. A nozzle l'or drinking l'ountains vomprising a hollow hod v having a relatively ln'oad. smooth ured vlosut'r vovvring it outlet end through whit-h is l'ormrd a entral oriliee, and a, plurality ot narrow 'adiating slots Sll'lltllllllllllg said oritive and intvrsvtt l l l l l l l l l i l l l l l me, said slots extent ling to ahont the periphery ot the elosur and there opening outwardly lHltlVv' the laee ot the vlosure.

5. A nozzle tor drinking t'ountains emit prising a hollow hotly having an exposed relatively hroad closure ol' flattened voniral .-hape through the apex of which is formed an oriliee for the emission of a. drinking atream, and a plurality of radiating water passages surrounding said ventral oritiee for emission of a nozzleq'iroteeting water vur-- lain. l)()lll said drinking stream orilive and said radiating water passages arranged to disrharge water in substantially the same dirvvtion.

ti. nozzle for drinking fountains vomprising a hollow hodv and an exposed, liroad-l'aved hollow vap having a ventral ori tit-e therethrough for emission of a drinking stream. and a plurality of radiating water passages aurrotuuliug said ventral orilive, liolh mild entral orifice and said radiating rater passages arranged to dis vharge water in snhstttntialtv the same direvtion.

i". nvzzle l'or drinking Fountains eoinprising a hollow body and an exposed h llow rap having a broad end of flattened vonival shape. through the apex ol' whirh is formed an orilive tor the emission of a drinking stream, and a pluralit v of narrow 'adiating water passages surrounding said drinking trt-ant orilive hoth said orilive and said water passages arranged to disvharge water in suhstantially the same direction.

H. A nozzle t'or drinking fountains C0111- prising a hollow hotly, and an exposed broad t'aved vap having a ventral oritive in the fave thereof for a drinking stream and a plurality of long narrow slots surroutuling the oril vt- 'l'or the etniasion ol thin sheets ol water, hoth said ventral orilive and said narrow slots arranged to discharge water in llil$-il;t|lllttll the same direotion.

fl. nozzle l'or drinking l'ouutains vompri ing a hollow body, and an exposed hroad laved rap having a entral oriliee through the l'avr thert-ol' tor a drinking stream. and a pluralit v ol' long narr-ie. slots radiating t'ront the ventral oritlre and eonununieating therewith. through whivh slots water emerges in thin sheets. hoth said ventral ori live and said narrow slots arrangvd to disvharge water in suhstantially the same dirt-e lion.

ltl. nozzle l'or drinking fountains vontprising a hollow hodv and a hollow rap having a broad end ol' llullened vonival shape through the apex ol' which is l'ortned an orilive. a plurality olradiating water passage surrounding said orilive. and dvpressions in the periphery ol said vap interst-rtin; the oulvr ends of the water passages to p rmit water to pa s outwardly from said ])tt.'*"-tl;' tf-.

ll. nozzle for driolt'itrg fountains com- 40 said prising a hollow body, a bro-ad faeedhollow cap having a central orifice and a plu rality of radiating water passages surrouiuling said orifice formed through the end thereof, and a batlle plate having outwardly radiating perforations theretln'ough eover- I said inlet, a hollow cap covering the other ing the innerend of said cap.

12. A nozzle for drlnklng fountains eomprising a hollow body. a broad faeed hollow cap having a central orifice through the end thereof, a plurality of radiating water passages surrounding said orifice, and a batiie plate remo-vably seeured to the inner end of said cap with a eireular groove in its under side and diverging perl'orations formed through the battle plate from said groove.

13. A nozzle for drinking fountains eomprising a hollow body having an inlet opening t one end, a hollow eap eovering the other end of said body and provided with outlet openings. :1 fixed batlle plate in said body, a valve Seat. a valve within said inlet movable toward the valve seat by the pres.-

25.sure of the ineoming water. and resilient means for actuating the valve in the opposite direetion against the force of said water, said valve and its s at being so eonstrueted that when the valve is seated a space of redueed area remains between them one end. a hollow eap eovering the other end ,of said body and provided with outlet openings. a statimiar removable batlle plate in said body having divergent perforations therethrough. a valve seat. a valve within inlet movable toward the valve seat by the pressure of the incoming water and having a plurality of longitudinal peripheral grooves. resilient tlltlllS between said batlle plate and the valve for moving the valve in the opposite direet'io-n. and means mounted on the battle. plate for ehangiug the force exerted by sa d resilient means.

said longitudinal peripheral grooves forming passageways for the water around the valve when the latter is seated.

15. A nozzle for drinking fountains comprising a hollow body having an inlet at one end, a perforated diaphragm within end of said body and provided with outlet openings, a baflie plate connected to the in nor end of said cap and provided with divergent perforations extending therethrough, a valve within the inlet having a depending flange or skirt adapted to bear on the perforated diaphragm, and provided with notches to prevent closure by said valve of the perforation in the diaphragm, said valve having a plurality of superficial longitudinal grooves surrounding the same, a valve seat for said valve, resilient means tending to hold the valve in contact with said diaphragm, and adjustable means carried by the battle plate for changing the tension of said resilient means.

16. A nozzle for drinking fountains comprising a hollow body having an inlet at one end, a perforateddiaphragm in said inlet, a valve within the inlet having a. notehed flange or skirt on its lower end adapted to normally rest on said diaphragm, a trusto-eonieal upper end and a plurality of parallel longitudinal grooves in the side walls and frusto-oonieal end otthe valve in line with the notehes in the shirt for the passage of water therethrough, a valve seat above said valve adapted to partly (-lose the grooves when the valve is forced against it by the pressure of water, and tensioning means for forcing the valve against the alter pressure.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presenee of two subscribing witnesses.

l I l lLl l .\l U FILLER. ANTON SCHUERMANN.

\V i tnesses:

\VILLIAM R. Bmmaq. CATHERINE l). MCKEUWN. 

